Access control systems are commonly used to limit access to enclosed areas such as buildings, rooms within buildings, or fenced-in regions to only those people who have permission to enter. Conventional access control systems include access card readers at doors of the secured building. People who have permission to enter the building are provided an access control card that can be read by the access card readers. The card reader reads information from the card, and communicates the information to a control panel, which determines whether the door should be unlocked. If the door should be unlocked (i.e., the card is associated with a person who has permission to enter), the control panel then sends a signal to the locking mechanism of the door causing it to unlock. Conventional access control systems have several drawbacks and fail to take advantage of available modern technologies.
For example, in most conventional systems, radio frequency identification (RFID) is used for identification of the card to the access control system. The access card reader includes an RFID transceiver, and the access card includes an RFID tag or transponder. The RFID transceiver transmits a radio frequency query to the card as the card passes over it. The transponder includes a silicon chip and an antenna that enables the card to receive and respond to the RF query. The response is typically an RF signal that includes a pre-programmed identification (ID) number. The card reader receives the signal and transmits the ID number to the control panel via a wire connection. Conventional card readers are not very sophisticated. These card readers may perform some basic formatting of the identification data prior to sending it to the control panel, but are generally unable to perform higher level functions.
The control panel is typically mounted on a wall somewhere in the building. The control panel conventionally includes a bank of relays that are each controlled by a controller device. The controller device accesses memory to determine whether the identification number received from the card reader is recognized and valid. If so, the controller causes the associated relay to open (or close) to thereby send a signal to the door lock, which causes the lock to enter the unlocked state. The lock typically remains unlocked for a specified amount of time.
Conventional control panels have several drawbacks. For one, control panels consume a relatively large amount of space in relation to the number of doors they control. A control panel typically includes a specified number of relay banks, with each bank uniquely associated with the door it controls. For example, a control panel may have eight relay banks to control eight doors. Such a control panel could easily take up a 2 square foot area when mounted on a wall. If more than eight doors need to be controlled, then an additional control panel must be installed.
In addition, the “closed” architecture of conventional control panels make them inflexible, costly to maintain, and not user friendly. The closed architecture of the conventional control panels means that their design, functionality, specifications are not disclosed by the manufacturers or owners. In addition, control panel design is typically very complex, and specialized to a particular purpose, which renders them inaccessible by a typical building owner who has no specialized knowledge. As a result, when a control panel fails or needs to be upgraded, the building owner has no choice but to call a specialized technician to come onsite to perform maintenance or upgrading. The monetary cost of such a technician's services can be very high. In addition, a great deal of time could be wasted waiting for the technician to travel to the site.
It is thus apparent that there is a need in the art for an improved method and system for controlling access to an enclosed area.